Electric iron and improvement in the handle portion thereof



A. RUELLAND July 26, 1938.

I ELECTRIC -IRON AND IMPROVEMENT IN THE HANDLE PORTION THEREOF Filed Jan. 19, 1937 INVENTOR f n. ATTORNEY- Patented July 26, 1938 ELECTRIC IRON AND mnovnnmnr IN THE HANDLE PORTION 'rnnanor Albertine Ruelland, New York, N. Y.

Application January 19, 1937, Serial No. 121,248

3 Claims.

My invention relates to electric irons and has reference particularly to "improvements in the construction of the handle portion of a type, which is disposed in-a plane apart from that of the heated surface, and which is adapted to swing around in this plane and be locked in its extreme forward and rearward positions with re spect to the body portion of the iron.

Irons of this character, which include a handle portion adjustable in a plane parallel with that of the ironing surface, have been devised and several embodiments of the idea have been disclosed in my Letters Patents numbered 1,708,957; Re. 18,592; 1,958,592 and 2,013,854, but in each construction it will be found that the handle and electric plug connections consist of a special fitting, which, while eflicient in operation, is extremely expensive to manufacture and will not accommodate any of the general plug construc- 29 tions in common use with electric irons.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the purpose of the present invention to provide an electric ironbof any. well known construction and design having the socket fitting for the plug in the heel 20 of the iron and mounting an upright handle post in the body of the latter forward and independent of the socket fitting to carry a handle portion free at one end and pivotally mounted at the 0 other end in the post,- whereby the handle is @Q capable of swinging from one lateral position to another with respect to the iron portion and without interfering with or otherwise affecting the electric plug and socket connection.

Another object of this invention is to provide 35 suitable locking means between the grip portion of the handle and the post thereof, to insure against relative movement of the grip except when adjustment is intended. v

I accomplish these objects by means of certain 4 combinations and arrangements of elements hereinafter described, set forth in the claims and illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawing in which: a

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an electric iron equipped with my improved handle;

Figure 2 is a sideelevationalview of the same showing parts in section; I

Figure 31s a substantially longitudinal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2. 5 Referring to the drawing, in detail, the electric iron comprises a body portion ill and sole plate It and the body portion is provided with a cover plate l2, the latter being fixed to the body it towards thetoe thereof by'a screw l3, which also screws into the sole plate -H to hold it firmly The body if! of the iron forwardly of the socket to the body. The cover plate l2 at heel'portion of the iron is provided with an opening it to accommodate the upwardly projecting contact terminal posts is of the electrical connection with .the heating element. A socket fitting i6 sur- 5 rounds the posts i5 and is permanently fixed in the cover plate i2 about the opening it. The socket connection may be of any of the common types now in use for thepurpose. w

1 I5 is provided with a threaded bore ll, which =projects well into the sole plate ii, and which. receives one end of a threaded bolt or union it. the upper end thereof being screwed into a threaded bore 69 disposed axially of an upright post 26. The post is rectangular in transverse section and adjacent the lower end the post is provided with a set screw 29 adapted to engage the union it and firmly afflx the latter and post together. The upper end of the post 20 on oppo- 20 site sides of the bore i? and ofiset slightly on L opposite sides of a line cutting'the major transverse axis of the post, is provided with small bores 22 and 23 projecting parallel to. thebore i9 and to a convenient depth into the post.

The upper end of the bore it receives the threaded shank 2d of a handle block 25, which comprises a fiat portion beyond the shank 26: having a straight fiat shoulder 26 at its under side to abut the upper end of the post 20 when the shank is screwed down in the bore it. The block carries a wood or composition handle or grip 21 which extends horizontally andis held to the block 25 bymeans of a screw 28 projecting axially of the grip and threaded at its inner end to screw into thebloclnthe outer end having a head seated against a recessed shoulder as in the end of the grip.

According to the present invention. the grip portion 21 of the handle is devised to be locked or otherwise rigidly engaged with post 20 in its two extreme opposite-positions, i. e. directly over the body of the iron or rearwardly thereof. .The

, means used to effect the locked positions, comprises an upright bolt 30 mounted in the block 25 in a bore 3i disposed at one side and rearwardly of the axis of the shank 24, so as tomesh or align itself with one or the other of the small bores 22 and 23, the bolt 30 being adapted to project into one of the latter. The bore 3! is enlarged at its mid-portion to accommodate a spring 32 yieldingly engaging a collar 33 on the bolt and tending to project the latter down wardly. The upper end of the bolt 30 is provided with a knob 34 seating in a depression 35 in the grip 21 and block 25 and resting on the forked end of a lever 36 which is pivotally mounted in a longitudinal surface groove 31 in the upper side of the grip. The outer end of the lever 36 is flush with the surface of the grip in the normal lowered locked position of the bolt so as to prevent the lever from being unintentionally depressed when the iron is in use. The iron contains the usual electric heating element 33 and thermostatic control 39 therefor and accommodates the usual plug connections 40 for the terminal posts l5.

In operation, the grip 21 is either positioned over the body of the iron, as shown in full lines of Figure 2 or in the direct reverse position of the dotted lines of the same figure. To efiect the change in position of the handle with respect to the base, the lever 36 is depressed and the bolt 30 is thereby projected upwardly to withdraw its inner end out of the bore 22 or 23 and free of engagement with the post. The grip is then turned about on the shank 24, which is screwedin the borel9, until the bolt '30 reaches the other bore 22 or 23 and is projected therein by action of spring 32. It is particularly important that these adjustments of the handle may be made It is to be'noted also that since the connections between the body of the iron and the post and between the post and the grip are effected by means of threaded shanks and bolts, there is practically no likelihood that the parts may become separated. To further insure against such a possibility the pitch of the threads used is very small so that it would require a great number of turns before the threads could be disengaged andthe parts separated.

Having described my invention and the manner in which the same is operated what Lclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A swingable handle fora sad-iron, comprising an upright post adapted to be fixed to the ing an upright threaded member adapted to be screwed into a threaded hole provided in the body of any normal iron adjacent the heel thereof, a post provided with a threaded longitudinal bore screwed over said member, a set screw to fix the post to said member, and a horizontal arm having a threaded shank at right angles thereto and at one end thereof screwed into the upper end of the threaded bore of the post, and a lock bolt adjustable in said arm to engage spaced depressions in the post on either side of the shank to lock the arm in diametrically opposite positions.

3. A swingable handle for a sad-iron, comprising an upright threaded bolt adapted to be screwed into' a threaded hole provided in the body of any normal iron, a post having a threaded bore, screwed on said bolt, a horizontm arm provided with a threaded shank at right angles thereto screwed into the upper end of the bore in the post, a spring depressed lock bolt arbe swung to another position and the lock bolt to engage in the other depression.

ALBERTINE RUELLAND. 

